Whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Let us consider a practical application of scripture on the subject of prioritizing good over evil in mass shootings.

Philippians 4:8 King James Version (KJV)

8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

There are times when one does not feel worthy to talk on certain subjects such as scripture. However, the seemingly coincidental occurrence of certain events has a way of making one feel compelled to do so anyway.

We are referring to recent mass shootings where lamentably unarmed bystanders have taken it upon themselves to fight back against evil. We had begun writing on this subject before the horrific events in Highlands Ranch took place yesterday afternoon, but hadn’t fully completed the task. Then the shooting at the STEM school took place putting a temporary hold on the article until this morning to ascertain if this had happened once again.

Initial reports on what was an evolving situation.

At first, something seemed odd about the initial reports on the situation, It was reported on The Denver channel that law enforcement – the good guys [and gals] with guns – were on the scene within two minutes. Not to be indelicate, but a lot can happen in two minutes, similar tragedies have taken place in this short a time span with horrific results. This didn’t seem to be the case, despite the fact that these were just the initial dispatches on the situation.

In many ways it’s quite fascinating to watch a news story evolve in real-time. When the initial reports of the tragedy came in, at least one of the local stations switched to live coverage, with one reporter making the salient point that these tragedies are rare.

Later on in the afternoon the local reporters were alluding to the impression that the activity was winding down. Meanwhile, it hardly garnered any attention on the national news sites or in the national trending tags on Twitter. It was only after a few hours later that a hashtag for the story began trending on the national listing.

‘Very heroic things that took place.’

HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. — Kendrick Castillo, 18, was shot and killed at STEM School Highlands Ranch on Tuesday, his father confirmed to NBC News.

Nui Giasolli, a student at the school, said on the ‘Today’ Show Wednesday morning that Castillo died a hero.

…

Giasolli said Castillo jumped into action and lost his life trying to save others.

“That’s when Kendrick lunged at him and he shot Kendrick, giving all of us enough time to get underneath our desks, to get ourselves safe and to run out of, across the room to escape,” Giasolli said through tears with her mother by her side.

She also thanked three other students she said ran toward the gunman. One of them was Brendan Bialy, a current poolee in the Marine Corps Delayed Entry Program (DEP).

Spurlock said that there were “very heroic things that took place” at the school Tuesday and said at least one student encountered the suspects and worked to stop them.

This wasn’t the only recent occurrence of people fighting back, as reported in The Daily Caller, In the case of the Chabad of Poway synagogue in San Diego, Oscar Stewart, yelled and ran towards the miscreant who dropped his weapon, stopping the mass murderer.

In another recent case, a true hero emerged as reported on Fox News, ROTC cadet Riley Howell, 21 died in his classroom on April 30 after charging and tackling an alleged shooter.

We have a choice in what we prioritize.

All of this is not to say that people should be reckless, but it is far better to focus on those who go out of their way to do good than to dwell on those bent on evil. These are heroes who be lauded instead of criminals and mass murderers.

They say ‘That Which You Gaze Upon You Become’. We have a choice here we can focus on what is good or we can focus on evil. Studies here and here [from Mother Jones no less] have shown that the emphasis on mass murderers only serves to create more mass murderers. Lauding those that save others by intervening serves several purposes. It takes the spotlight of infamy away from evil and it focuses our gaze on those who deserve our praise. The Left purports to want to protect children, the proper focus on what is good instead of evil helps accomplish this goal. So shouldn’t they join us in this effort?

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The Evangelical Dark Web

The battle for the soul of the evangelical church in the United States spans across the remaining denominations that have not openly fallen into apostasy. The United Methodist Church was saved by the African delegations from rejecting biblical ministry standards. The Southern Baptist Convention struggles to reject critical race theory. Many denominations have split over the encroachment of liberal or progressive theology such as the PCA. This constant fight to maintain the doctrine of the church from false teachers is never ending, dating back to the divinely inspired writings of Paul. The Evangelical Dark Web is the latest decentralized movement in the fight against false teachers infiltrating the church.

As I enter the fray to defend the church, it is important to recognize that, in defending the church from the false doctrines and heretics, the stakes are eternal. We live in a Romans 1 era.

28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

The country’s descent into decadence, it’s rejection of truth, is evident in seemingly every area, and the church is unimmune. The attack on the church is one that seeks to pacify the gospel with worldly ideas. I identify three false gospels, in which, the Evangelical Dark Web combats that seek to subvert Christianity. Note: these do not include cults that identify as Christian.

The Prosperity Gospel

The word of faith heresy reduces the God of the universe to a vending machine with a “name it and claim it” philosophy. It conforms the gospel to a self-help ritual so that the practitioners can get rich and stay healthy. In short, the Prosperity Gospel is about using God to achieve worldly desires.

The Social Justice Gospel

The Social Justice Gospel can be briefly summarized as antinomianism combined with postmodernism. This heresy reduces God by denying the Word. Sanctification is discouraged. Its Jesus is a brown skinned Palestinian. Its evangelism is affirming the world. Its sacrament is abortion. Its charity is entitlement programs. Belief in the Resurrection is optional, and Muslims worship the same god. The Social Justice Gospel is the troll to the Bride of Christ. It’s how the world wants Christianity to be, if people are to identify as Christian and those who practice the Social Justice Gospel always feel the need to call out Christians who hold to orthodox doctrine.

This doctrine is a parasite. Churches who partake in the parasite dwindle, and so the parasite must find a new church to infiltrate, for the Social Justice Gospel cannot survive in the world it wants to create.

The Popularity Gospel

The Popularity Gospel is most difficult to explain. It reduces Jesus to the popular kid in high school. It’s hard to describe a heresy that creates an idol out of the living God, but this phenomenon is prophesied in scripture:

3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. 2 Timothy 4:3-4 NASB

The Popularity Gospel is an artificial image of Jesus that appeals to the masses. It’s often identifiable in those who employ a worldly definition of love when talking about a savior whose kingdom is not of this world. God is all “love” and no wrath. Its favorite verses poll extremely well. We aren’t being saved from sin; we are trusting in Jesus to protect, lead, and bless us. You are good. Jesus makes you better. This diluted gospel accepts worldly premises on goodness, judgment, love, and Christianity as a whole. Its church organizations are mass growth marketing mechanisms. Its sermons are elementary. Its commission is to baptize believers, nevermind discipleship. Discipleship requires critically thinking. With the Popularity Gospel, one just has to sit back, enjoy the entertainment, ambiance, and childcare.

Unlike the Social Justice Gospel, the Popularity Gospel is self-sustaining because marketing works, and the masses enjoy being entertained. What I described was the megachurch motif.

The Movement

A number of Christians are waking up to the spiritual battle that is going on within the Church, realizing, how many leaders are perpetuating or capitulating to the corrupting forces of the three aforementioned heresies. Just as academia in this country has largely been corrupted, our seminaries, likewise, are under attack. If the institutions that train the pastorate in this country fail, churches will struggle to find pastors worthy of the calling.

In the last few years, church leaders have responded with faith statements such as the Nashville Statement and the Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel to redress such pressing issues. But these faith statements, while a commendable effort, are insufficient in rooting out false teachers by themselves. For the Bible says:

10 As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, 11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned. Titus 3:10-11 ESV

Christianity needs a united front against such heresies mentioned above as they would, in modern times, be united against the teachings of Arian. Orthodoxy must be enforced even if it means powerful figures in Big Eva get cast out in the process.

In championing the disparaging title Brian Auten and Jake Meador over at Mere Orthodoxy, this platform seeks to be theologically sound, historically literate, and culturally relevant, as called in facing the most pressing threat Christianity is facing in America today.

Facebook uncensors Live Action after Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley intervene

Pro-life activist group Live Action has been in hot water with Facebook since last month. They’ve been accused of spreading false news after a fact-check group claimed a video of Lila Rose saying “abortions is never medically necessary” was false. This drew the attention of Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley, both of whom have been going after Facebook for anti-conservative bias in their censorship patterns for some time.

As part of Facebook’s International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), a group called Health Feedback used the fact-checking of two physicians with ties to pro-abortion groups. This led to the group’s page and content being censored with reduced exposure and warnings placed on their content as fake news.

Cruz and Hawley sent a letter to Facebook calling for an investigation and noting they’ve already uncovered multiple cases of unabashed bias against conservative content on pages. Facebook replied in an unexpectedly compliant manner.

“We have been in touch with the IFCN which has opened an investigation to determine whether the fact checkers who rated this content did so by following procedures designed to ensure impartiality,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement. “While the IFCN investigates, we are removing the relevant fact checks and have communicated this to the members of the US Senate who brought this specific concern to our attention.”

The fact check was published by the group Health Feedback, part of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), which is partnered with Facebook to crack down on misinformation on the platform. Health Feedback’s reviews rated Rose’s claim as inaccurate, saying, “Certain medical conditions such as placenta previa and HELLP syndrome can make abortion a necessary medical procedure in order to prevent the mother’s death.”

Live Action said that after the fact check was posted late last month, the group was notified by Facebook that its page’s content would be subject to “reduced distribution and other restrictions because of repeated sharing of false news.”

Censorship by Big Tech is an ongoing issue that requires both lawmakers and conservative users to stand out ground. They are protected as unbiased platforms by Section 230. They need to play fair.

We are currently forming the American Conservative Movement. If you are interested in learning more, we will be sending out information in a few weeks.

America’s mainstream media is following around the major presidential candidates like ducklings chasing after their mothers. They cover every move they make, word they speak, and hand they shake. But there are times when the media goes silent and selectively omits an activity from being reported. Such was the case for those covering Bernie Sanders and Julian Castro, who spoke at the ISNA Convention two weeks ago.

Oh, you didn’t hear about that one? It’s because the ISNA Convention included a who’s-who list of known jihadists, anti-Semites, and people who call for the death of all homosexuals. That’s not the kind of event the mainstream media likes to publicize for their puppetmasters.

When ISNA, an Islamic group accused of supporting terrorists, announced a presidential forum for ISNACON 2019, the expectations were low. The Islamic Society of North America had been created by Muslim Brotherhood members and was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Hamas Holy Land Foundation trial.

And even if the 2020 Democrats were willing to overlook the minor matter of murdering Jews, which they usually are, Muzammil Siddiqi, ISNA’s former president who chairs its Fiqh Council, which dispenses Islamic sharia law, has assented to the death penalty for homosexuality.

At the 2019 ISNA convention, Siddiqi spoke on “Strengthening Our Connection with Allah.”

Imam Siraj Wahhaj, an unindicted co-conspirator in the World Trade Center bombing, was there at an Imam Round Table. Wahhaj has repeatedly endorsed violence against non-Muslims. That wouldn’t bother Democrats, but Wahhaj has also declared that “masculine women” are “cursed”, claimed that the “feminist movement” is headed by “lesbians” and then offered a reminder of Islam’s LGBT position.

“And you know, brothers and sisters, you know what the punishment is, if a man is found with another man? The Prophet Mohammad said the one who does it and the one to whom it is done to, kill them both,” Imam Wahhaj said.

Democrats who want to win the nomination need the Muslim vote. But many of the thought-leaders in Muslim communities promote an agenda that is antithetical to the Democrats’ stance, particularly as it pertains to the LGBTQ community. It’s for this reason we do not see reports of these activities in the mainstream media. They’d rather take an extended coffee break or bash on President Trump while major Democratic candidates speak to Islamists.

The symbiotic relationship between the Democratic Party and radical is not based on shared values, only a shared enemy. Both want Trump and as many Republicans as possible out of Washington DC in 2020.

We are currently forming the American Conservative Movement. If you are interested in learning more, we will be sending out information in a few weeks.